Cheryl Hines Talks Returning to Curb and School Pride

We love her as Larry David’s exasperated wife on Curb Your Enthusiasm, but now Cheryl Hines is giving us more to love: School Pride. The actress and mom to a 6 year old daughter gives Breezy Mama the scoop on the new reality show she is executive producing that features communities coming together to fix up run down schools, the joy of giving back and her return to Curb for this next season.

How did you get involved School Pride?

I’m a mom and I have a daughter who is in school. I was inspired to reach out to schools.

Will your humor be played into School Pride at all… cause you’re hilarious.

Thank you [smiles]. Kim Whitley is one of our hosts and she’s a very funny woman. All of our hosts are funny, but she especially will bring some funny elements to the show.

Will we see you on the screen?

Probably not.

Will your daughter be involved at all?

I don’t know if you’ll see her on the screen… she’s behind the scenes.

Is this your favorite way to give back?

When you go into a classroom and you paint the walls and scrub the floor and you see a difference… You see the teacher walk in or the teacher is there with you – but you actually see the difference… you see the kids come in and feel good…

So you get something out of this?

Ohhh… yes, I do.

Has being a mom made you more aware?

Maybe I was like this before and just didn’t know, but now being a grown up and being a parent, I’m more aware. But you go into a school and the history books only goes up to 1974, you know that we’ve hit rock bottom.

Is there a way for people to help their own schools?

Yes. If you go to NBC.com, they’ll have some information there, but we’re hoping to launch a site where it will point [readers] in the right direction.

Did anyone from Curb or any of your former cast mates know you were involved with this?

They did know I was doing it because the first school that I did in Compton, I literally called Larry David, Ray Romano, Sarah Silverman, Anthony Anderson, Niecy Nash and Ed Helms –I said can we do a show – a fundraiser – where people pay money to see you do something ridiculous and it all goes to the school and they said yes.

Did they do it?

Yes – this was a long time ago. So, they’ve known I’m doing this. I think they were afraid to answer the phone when I called.

What are the chances of Larry David coming down to a school and re-tiling a bathroom or something?

[Laughs] The chances of Larry David re-tiling anything are 0 point to 00.

Will you be making an appearance on Curb this year?

Yes. I will be a part of the new season.

Any hints of what’s ahead?

The beauty of [that show] is that they don’t tell me what’s going to happen so I don’t have to worry about giving anything away.

Any other upcoming acting roles?

We will see what happens. I have a development deal with ABC so we’re hatching something.

How much does School Pride take of your time?

It takes as much as I can give. I can go in and literally work on a school, or I know that Denise [Cramsey — also an executive producer and a former executive producer of ExtremeMakeover: Home Edition] is there and she’s running the ship. So, it just depends. Creatively it does take up time, but I’m not there every second.

Have you seen an effect on your daughter and her thoughts on schools?

I have. This is what she thinks life is all about – on the weekends, go out and help somebody. Every once in a while, she’ll ask, “Why are we going to someone else’s school?”

Is this a project that will be with you a long time?

I’m sure of it.

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